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Dayle, a chief officer for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue, said: "It was a fire involving a boiler, so you will understand that a boiler has a number of components to it and part of that is electrics and that appears to be what has caused the fire.

"It's under investigation at the moment but our early indications are that it is an electrical fire."

When asked about the quick and large-scale response to the fire, he said: "Because it is a high-rise building that dictates that we have special procedures that we need to put in place and those are quite resource intensive so with lots of people and lots of equipment. "

The scene of the fire at Discovery Heights in Plymouth city centre (Image: Penny Cross)

He added: "It's important to have the correct equipment in place so we can undertake the firefighting operations.

"We've got seven fire crews and about four special appliances here with us today and I'm really pleased to say that we've been reconsidering our procedures over last year and this year and most of those procedures have been put in place today and its worked really well for us.

"These crews have been able to get at it quickly to deal with it."

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The scene of the fire at Discovery Heights in Plymouth city centre (Image: Penny Cross)

Following the Grenfell Tower flats disaster, fire services have been carrying out regular practices at high-rise buildings in the area, including The Civic Centre to ensure that response times are at a minimum.

When The Herald arrived on the scene there were no obvious signs of smoke or fire and the road remained open with traffic running freely.

Emergency services had parked in the bus lane which is currently closed due to the construction of the neighbouring Beckley Point tower.

The scene of the fire at Discovery Heights in Plymouth city centre (Image: Penny Cross)

"I'm pleased to say the fire alarm had activated, people quite rightly reacted to that and evacuated from the building so quickly," he said. "We could then establish what was going on and could get on with dealing with the fire and look for people that may have been in the building."

A spokesman from Devon and Cornwall Police previously told The Herald: “Police were notified of a fire on Cobourg Street in Plymouth at around 1.15pm.

“Fire service is working at the scene. The building has been evacuated.”